Wire tying machine



Feb. 8, 1'949. K. E. SCHULZE 2,450,346

WIRE TYING MACHINE Filed Oct. 5, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 I" -5. 9 45 7 mm.52551132 IIII Lu11LI[[[[[F ATTORNEY BY WZ ZM 4 Feb. 8, 19 49. 1 SCHULZE2,460,846

' WIRE TYING MACHINE Filed Oct. 5, 1946 s Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. KURTE. SCHULZE WfW .4 r TORIVEY Feb. 8, I949. K. E. SCHULZE 2,460,846

, WIRE TYING MACHINE Filed Oct. 5, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. KURTE. SCHULZE ATTORNEY Feb. 8, 1949. sc 2,460,846

WIRE TYING MACHINE Filed Occ. 5, 1946 I 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. KURTE. SCHULZE ZZ 74am AT TORNEY K. E. SCHULZE WIRE TYING MACHINE Fe b. s,1949.

5 Sheets$heet 5 Filed Oct. 5. 1946 INVENTOR. KURT E. SCHULZE ZA/ZmMXPatented Feb. 8, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WIRE T YING MACHINEKurt Eric Schulze, San Francisco, Calif., assignor to' Ernest Roe, doingbusiness as Coast Wire Company, San Francisco, Calif.

Application October 5, 1946, Serial No. 701,530

15 Claims. 1

This invention relates to wire tying machines, and more particularly toimprovements in wire tying machines of the character utilized to securea flat wire or band around a box, package, bundle, or the like.

It is desirable, on occasion, to utilize a flat wire or band, asdistinguished from conventional round wire, to tie or strap packages, asfor example, to prevent cutting of relatively soft material from which acontainer may be fabricated.

The object of the present invention is to provide a machine fortightening and securing a fiat wire or band around a box, or the like,and cutting the ends of the wire after completion of the tie. Morespecific objects of the invention are to provide means to cut the endsof the fiat wire, after completion of the tie; and to provide grippingmeans to tighten the flat wire band and hold the said wire taut duringthe tying operation. A further object of the invention is to provide amachine of the character mentioned, which is portable, simple tooperate, relatively inexpensive to manufacture, and which is sturdy ofconstruction.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent uponreference to the specification and drawings, in which similar charactersof reference represent corresponding parts in the several views.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a portable wire tying machine ofthe character embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view thereof.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5--5 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on line 6-6 v of Fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken on line 'l'l of Fig. 3.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 8-8 of Fig. 3.

Fig.9 is a sectionalview taken on line 99 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 10 is an exploded view of the wire cutting members, guide membersand twisting gear.

Fig. 11 is a front elevational view, partly in section, illustrating thecutting and gripping members.

Fig. 12 is a front elevational view similar to Fig. 11 but prior to theformation of the wire tie and tightening of the wire.

Fig. 13 is an exploded view of a modified arrangement of the wirecutting members and twisting gear.

Fig. 14 is an exploded view of a further modified arrangement of thewirecutting members and twisting gear.

The machine may comprise any suitable structure of the general characterdisclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 1,545,407, issued July 7,1925, to C. L. Drew et al., which consists, generally, of a portabletool constructed to rest on a package, or the like, to be strapped, andprovided with means for tightening a wire around the package, means fortwisting together the wire to form a tie, and means for cutting off theends of the wire extending beyond the tie, and a single operating lever.Movement of the lever from its normal position serves to tighten thewire and movementof the lever in a reverse direction serves to tie thewire and cut the end portions thereof.

As mentioned, the present invention comprises essentially improvements'in the wire gripping means adapted to grip the wire during tighteningthereof and in the means for cutting the wire end portions aftercompletion of the tie, bearing in mind that the instant inventionrelates to machines for tying flat, usually relatively small gauge, wireas distinguished from conventional round wire. I V

The machine comprises an operating handle 2, adapted to be movedforwardly from the-neutral position indicated in Fig. 1 toward the tyingend of the machine, indicated generally at A. Forward movement of thehandle 2 causes cam 3 to rotate in the direction .of the arrow (Fig. 1)thereby causing pivotally mounted arms 5 and 6 to'move laterally awayfrom the machine, which, when the wire is positioned properly in themachine, causes the wire to be tightened around the package to be tied.Movement of the handle 2 in a reverse direction, i. e. away from thetying end A of the machine to neutral position (Fig. 1 causes rotationof gear I in the direction of the arrows (Fig. 1), which, in turn,imparts a rotative movement to wire twisting gear 8 provided with a wirereceiving slot-9, which, when the wire is positioned properly in themachine, causes the tie to be formed. Further movement of the handle 2to-the position indicated in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 7 actuatesthecutting means.

' The above elements and functions are described in detail in UnitedStates Letters Patent vNo. 1,545,407, previously mentioned. I will nowrefer 3 more particularly to the gripping and cutting means whichcomprise the herein invention.

per, generally indicated at 2|, and a right gripper, generally indicatedat 22, carried by arms 5 and 6, respectively. The grippers 2| and 22each comprises a mutilated disk 23 mounted pivotally and eccentrically.as at 24, on the free ends of arms 5 and 6. The peripheries of the,disks are knurled, as at 25, to engage and hold the fiat wire againstthe bed, generally indicated at 26, of the said arms 5 and 5, asindicated in Figs. 11 and 12. The bed 25 underlying gripper 2| ispreferably formed with a slight concavity, as at 21, to insure a tighterand easier wire gripping action. Preferably, a spring tension member 24is provided to bias normally the grippers into closed or grippingposition. An upwardly projecting peg 29 is preferably provided on thebed underlying gripper 2| and spaced from the vertical arm wall 3| towhich the disk is connected in order to prevent lateral movement of thewire relative to the gripping surface 25.

The bed 28 underlying gripper 22 is preferably inclined, as at 32, inorder to provide for easy positioning of the wire for gripping thereof.A notched lever 33, pivoted to vertical arm wall 3| of arm 6, ispreferably provided to prevent lateral movement of the wire away fromengagement with the gripping surface 25. The lever 33 may be providedwith spring means to urge the said lever into the wire retainingposition indicated in Fig. 1 and the front end of the lever may beinclined, as at 35, to allow the wire to cam thereover into the notchwhen moved laterally thereagainst.

The wire cutting means comprises movable blade members, generallyindicated at 4| and 42 and positioned, respectively, outside and insidestationary guide members, generally indicated at 43 and 44 disposed atopposite ends of twisting gear I. The movable cutter blade 4| isillustrated as provided with an upper relatively narrow wire receivingslot 45 and a lower relatively narrow wire receiving'slot 46, whileadjacent stationary guide member 43 is illustrated as provided with arelatively deep inclined wire receiving slot 41. Blade 42 is providedwith a relativelyfldeep inclined slot 48, similar to guide member 43,and

adjacent guide member 44 is provided with relatively narrow upper andlower slots 49 and 58 similar to cutter blade 4|. It is noted that themembers, whether cutter or guide, provided with two wire receivingportions or slots are disposed outside the single slot members.

Cutter blades 4| and 42 are pivotally mounted relative to the frame ofthe machine and stationary guide members 43 and 44 and are provided withlaterally protruding pins 52 which, in turn, are connected to coilspring :53 attached to the rigid'ears 54 carried by the frame of themachine, The springs 53 operate normally tobias the blades into open orwire receiving positionfas indicated in Figs. 1 and 'l' in full. lines.It is noted that the blade members are provided withstrike por- The wiregripping means comprises a left gripstantially the same horizontal planeas the upper slot 49 of stationary guide member 44. Downward movement ofblade members 4| and 42 relative to guide members 43 and 44 cause ascissors cutting action to occur as between slots and 41 on the one handand slots 48 and 45 on the other. No cutting action results as betweenslots 45 and 41 and as between slots 48 and because of the relativepositioning of said slots and the fact that the movable blade membersare limited in pivotal movement by the bottom surfaces thereof strikingagainst the base of the frame of the machine'or in some other suitablefashion, whereby the pivotal movement of the cutter members is limitedtoprevent movement of the top of slot 45 downwardly beyond thehorizontal plane of the bottom of slot 41 and to prevent movement of thetop of slot 50 beyond the horizontal plane of the bottom of' slot 48.

In operation, the machine is conventionally positioned on the topportion of a package. B to be tied. Referring to Figs. 1i and 1 2, theend of a flat wire, indicated generally at BI, is inserted under disk 23of gripper 2| and the gripper exerts a compressive action against thewire to clamp it releasably in position. The wire is then fed throughlower slot 45 of cutter member 4|, slot 41 of guide member 43, slot Sofgear 8, slot 48 of cutter, member 42, lower slot 50 of guide member 44,thence around the packageB, then through upper slot 45 of cutter blade4|, slot 41, slot 9 where it crossesover itself, slot 48 of cutter 42,upper slot 49 of guide 44 and thence under disk 23 of gripper 22 whereit is held and gripped in position.

It is noted that various arrangements of the cutter and guide membersmay be utilized to produce the necessary scissors action to cut the wireends after formation of the tie. For example, in Fig. 13 the movablecutter members 10 may be disposed nearest the gripper (not shown) andeach may be provided with a single wire receiving portion H, while theadjacent stationary members 12, positioned on the inside of the cutters,are provided with a plurality of slots I4 and 15 arranged so thatmovement of thecutter members relative to the stationary member acts tocut the wire disposed in one of the wire receiving slots 14 of saidguide member but not a wire positioned in another slot 15 of saidstationary guide member, or in Flg. 14 the movable cutter members ll mayeach be provided with a plurality of wire receiving slots 83 and 84 andthe stationary guide members 82 with a single slot 85 and arranged sothat relative movement therebetween "causes cutting of wire disposed inone slot 83 of each cutter but not another slot 84.

When the handle 2 is moved forwardly toward the tying end A of themachine, arms 5 and 6 swing laterally from the machine (Fig. 11) anddotted lines (Fig. 4), thereby tightening the wire positioned around thepackage B. When the handle 2 is moved in reverse to its normal-full lineposition (Fig. 1), the wire twisting gear 8 is rotated, thereby twistingthe ends of the wire together to form a tie (Fig. 11) When the handle ismoved to the dotted line position (Figs. 1 and "'l), the movable cuttermembers 4| and 42 are moved by pressure of lugs 56 thereagainst to cutthe wire ends and the package tie is complete.

It, is noted that gripper 2| is illustrated as mounted at an obliqueangle relative to the axis of rotation of twisting gear8. It issometimes preferable to mount gripper 22 at a similar angle in order tofacilitate positioning of wire in gripping position vor to preventbending of ,the wire end upon return of arm 6 to neutral or full lineposition indicated in Fig. 11. Further, it is noted that the bottom ofgripper 22 lies in substantially the same horizontal plane as upper slot49 of guide member 44,

As previously indicated, this invention lies in the provision ofimproved means to grip and hold fiat wire, namely, the grippers 2| and22, and, again, in the provision of means to cut the ends of flat wirewithout severing the package encircling portions of the wire. Heretoforeknown methodsof gripping and cutting round wire are not usable withrespect to flat wire ties.

While I have described the. invention in more or less specific detailfor purposes of clarity of illustration, example, and description,various changes, modifications and alterations may be made and practicedwithin the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a wire tying machine having a wire twisting gear and means torotate said gear to twist wires together to form a tie, the combinationof means to cut the ends of said wires twisted together to form a tiecomprising a member having at least two wire receiving portions and amember having a singlewire receiving portion arranged side by sideadjacent to each end of said twisting gear, and means to move one ofsaid members relativeto an adjacent said member to produce a scissoraction therebetween, one of said wire receiving portions arranged withrespect to another said portion and said single wire receiving portionsothat wire disposed in one said portionis cut but not wire disposed inanother said portion upon movement of said members relative to oneanother.

2. In a device of the character described having a wire twisting gearprovided with a longitudinal wire receiving slot adapted to twist wirestogether to form a tie, means to cut the ends of a wire twisted togetherto form a tie comprising at least two members each having an upper and alower wire receiving portion and at least two members each having atleast one wire receiving portion, said members arranged in pairs whereby a member having two wire receiving portions is disposed beside asingle wire receiving portion member and adjacent to opposite ends ofsaid twisting gear, and meansto cause relapositioned adjacent to theother of said guide members, said slots of said guide and cutter membersarranged with respect to one another so that wire disposed in one slotof a member having a plurality thereof is cut but not wire disposed inanother slot of said member upon movement of said movable cutter memberrelative to an adjacent guide member.

5. In a device of the character described, means to cut the ends ofwires twisted together to form a tie comprising a, pair of movablecutter members, means to move said cutter members, and a pair of guidemembers, a pair of vertically spaced wire receiving portions formed inone cutter member and in one guide member, a single wire receivingportion formed in said other cutter member and in said other guidemember, said cutter having two wire receiving portions disposed side byside with said guide member having a single wire receiving portion andsaid cutter having a single wire receiving portion disposed side by sidewith said guide having two wire receivin ortions, said wire receivingportions of said guide and cutter members arranged with respectto oneanother so that wire disposed in one wire receiving portion of a memberhaving a plurality thereof is cut but not wire disposed in another wirereceiving portion of said member upon movement of said movable cuttermember relative to an adjacent guide member.

6. In a wire tying machine having a wire twisting gear and means torotate said gear to twist wires together to form a tie, the combinationof means to cut the ends of said wires twisted together to form a tiecomprising a member having at least two vertically spaced wire receivingportions and a member having a single wire receiving portion arrangedside by side adjacent to each end of said twisting gear, said membershaving at least two wire receiving portions distive movement betweeneachmember of .each

said pair of members, said wire receiving portions of said membersarranged with respect to one another so that wire disposed in one wirereceiving portion of a member having a plurality thereof is cut but notwire disposed in another wire receiving portion of said member uponrelative movement of said members.

3. A device according to claim 2 and wherein said wire receivingportions provided in said members lie normally in substantially thehorizontal plane of said longitudinal slot provided in said twistinggear.

4. In a device of the character described, means to cut the ends ofwires twisted together to form a tie comprising a pair of movable cuttermembers, means to move said cutter members, one of said cutter membershaving a pair of vertically spaced wire receiving slots, and a pair ofguide members, one of said guide members having a pair of verticallyspaced wire receiving slots positioned adjacent to one of said guidemembers and the other of said cutter members posed outside of saidmembers 'having a single wirereceiving portion, and means to move one.of said members relative to an adjacent said memberto produce a scissoraction therebetween, said wire receiving portions of said memberarranged with respectto one another so that wire disposed inone wirereceiving portion of each member having a plurality thereof is cut butnot. wire disposed in another wire receiving portion of said member uponmovement of a member relative to an adjacent memberr '7. In a wire tyingmachine having a wire twisting gear and means to rotate said gear totwist wires together to form a tie, the combination of means to,cut theends of said wires twisted together to form a tie comprising a memberhaving at least two vertically spaced wire receiving portions .and amember having a single wire receiving portion arranged side by sideadjacent to each end of said twisting gear, said members having at leasttwo wire receiving portions ,disposed inside of said members having asingle wire receiving portion, andmeans to move one of said membersrelative to an adjacent said member to produce a scissoractiontherebetween, said wire receiving portions of said members arranged withrespect to one another so that wire disposed in one wire receivingportion of each m mber having a plurality thereof is cut but not wiredisposed in another wire receiving portion of said member upon movementof .a member acoaaao from said machine and means to move said arm, agripper for flat wire carried by said'arm and comprising a pivotally andeccentrically vertically mounted disk having a wire gripping surfaceoverlying a portion of said arm, resilient means to urge said disk intocontact with said portion of said am, and means comprising a peg carriedby .said arm to limitlateral movement of the wire relative to saidgripping surface of said disk.

9. In a wire tying machine having means to tension wire comprising anarm movable laterally from said machine and a wire twisting gear havinga longitudinal wire receiving slot provided therein and means to rotatesaid gear to twist the ends of wire together to form a tie, a gripperfor gripping wire carried by said arm and comprising a pivotally andeccentrically,

. 8 v therebetweem'a gripper for grippingflat wire during tensioningthereof carried by said arm and comprising a pivotally and eccentricallmvertically mounted, mutilated disk having a gripping surface overlying aportion of said arm, means to urge said wire gripping surface. intocontact with said portion of said arm comprising disposed in said wirereceiving slots lying normally in the same horizontal plane as saidgripping surface are not cut and wires disposed in other said wirereceiving slots are out upon movement of a said member relative to anadjacent vertically mounted, mutilated disk'having a wiregrippingsurface overlying a'portion of said arm, means to urge said wiregripping surface into contact with said portion of said arm comprising aspring tension member, said gripping surface lying normally insubstantially the same hori-"- zontal plane as the said longitudinalslot, and

means comprising stop means carried by said armto limit lateral movementof a wire relative to said gripping surface.

10. In a wire tying machine having means to tension wire comprising anarm movable lat-' erally from said machine and a wire twisting ge'arhaving a longitudinal wire receiving slot provided therein and means torotate said gear move said arm laterally from said machine,

the combination of means to cut the ends of said wirestwistedtogether toform a tie comprising a member having a wire receiving portion andanother member having a plurality of.

vertically spaced wire receiving portions disposed side by side adjacentto each end of said 'twisting gear, means to move'one of saidmemgripping surface into contact with said portion of said armcomprising a spring tension member, said gripping surface lying normallyin substantiallythe same horizontal plane as one of said wire receivingportions of said members having aplurality thereof, said wire receivingportions of said members arranged with respect to one another so thatwires disposed in said wirereceiving portions lying normally in the samehorizontal plane as said gripping surface are not cut and wires disposedin other said wire receiving portions'are out upon movement of a saidmember relative to an adjacent member.

11. In a wire tying machine having means to tensionwire comprising anarm movable laterally from said machine and a wire twisting gear havinga longitudinal wire receiving slot provided therein and means to rotatesaid gear and move said arm laterally from said machine, the combinationof means to cut the ends of said wires twisted together to form a tiecomprising a member having a wire receiving slot and another memberhaving a plurality of vertically spaced wire receiving slots disposedside by side adjacent to 'each end of said twisting gear, means to moveone of said members relative to an adjacent said memberto produce ascissor action member, and means to limit lateral movement of a wirerelative to said gripping surface.

12. In a wire tying machine according'to claim 11 and wherein said slotsin said member having a plurality thereof are spaced vertically from oneanotherand said gripping surface lies normally in substantially the samehorizontal plane of a said slot of said multi-slotted member, said slotsand gripping surface arranged with respect to one another so that a wireleading from aslot to said gripper is vertically aligned with theportion of the wire encircling an object to be tied.

13. In a wire tying machine having a wire twisting gear and means torotate said gear to twist wires together to form a tie, the combinationof means to cut the ends of said wires twisted together to form a tiecomprising a pair of members disposed side by side adjacent to each endof said twisting gear, a plurality of wire receiving portions providedin one member of each pair and at least one wire receiving portionprovided in the other member of each pair, at least one wire receivingportion in each member having a plurality thereof arranged to receive aportion of a wire encircling an object to be tied and another wirereceiving portion in said member arranged to receive a portion of saidwire adjacent to an end thereof to be cut, and means to move a saidmember of a pair to produce a scissors action therebetween. to out saidwire adjacent to an end thereof but not said wire portion encircling anobject to be tied.

14. In a wire tying machine having a wire twisting gear and means torotate said gear to twist wires together inform a tie, the combinationof means to cut the ends of said wires twisted together to form-a tiecomprising a member having a plurality of vertically spaced wirereceiving portions and a member having a single wire receiving portionarranged side by side adjacent to each end of said'twisting gear, onewire receiving portion of said member having a pinrality thereofarranged to receive an end of a wire-to'becut, another wire receivingportion of said member having a plurality thereof arranged to receive aportion of wire encircling an article to be tied, and means to move oneof said members relative to an adjacent member to produce a scissoraction therebetween, said members arranged so that a wire end disposedin one said wire receiving portion is cut and wire disposed inanadjacent said wire receiving portion is not out upon movement of saidmembers relative to one another. s

' 15. Ina wire tying machine having means to tension wire comprising anarm movable laterally from said machine and a wire twisting gear havinga longitudinal wire receiving slot provided therein and means to rotatesaid gear and move said arm laterally from said machine, the combinationof means to cut the ends of said wires twisted together to form a tiecomprising a member having a plurality of vertically spaced wirereceiving portions and a member having a single wire receiving portionarranged side by side adjacent to each end of said twisting gear. onewire receiving portion of said member having a plurality thereofarranged to receive an end of a wire to be cut, another wire receivingportion of said member having a plurality thereof arranged to receive aportion of wire encircling an article to be tied, means to move one ofsaid members relative to an adjacent member to produce a scissor actiontherebetween, said members arranged so that a wire end disposed in onesaid wire receiving portion is cut and wire disposed in an adjacent saidwire receiving portion is not out upon movement of said members relativeto one another, and a gripper for gripping flat wire carried by saidarm, said gripper and wire receiving portions arranged with respect toone another so that a wire end leading from a said wire receivingportion to said gripper is in substantial vertical alignment with thewire encircling said article to be tied.

KURT ERIC scHULzE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

